[Mental Care Product Making Diary #1] Overcoming Burnout

It was the winter of January 2023, exactly one month after I transitioned to a full-time member while working at a startup team early last year.

Like many startup teams, it was an incredibly busy time preparing for government support programs (and running MVP tests concurrently).

Around that time, I experienced severe burnout. In my first Disquaiet post, I mentioned feeling a sense of loss frequently, and

looking back now, I realize those feelings were signs of burnout.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was so exhausted from work that the happiest moments of my day were those spent alone at home, eating while watching 'Attamamma' on YouTube.

I lost interest in topics I used to care about and even people didn't pique my interest anymore.

Then, when I saw a burnout checklist on my old mental health Instagram account, I became certain that I was experiencing burnout.

After going through this thought process and reflecting on what was most important to me at that moment, I recalled a method that Yanadoo founder, Min-cheol Kim, had used when he couldn't do anything after his business failed.

It was simply 'brushing your teeth three times a day'.

I thought it would be beneficial for me, too, to gradually regain my routine and inject vitality by consistently engaging in small, simple tasks.

With the hope of overcoming this feeling of listlessness with others who might be struggling similarly, I gathered people through the Everytime (anonymous community) platform at my university.

About six people responded to my message expressing their interest in joining, and I ended up doing the challenge with four of them who I continued to stay in contact with.

One person later said they couldn't participate, and so the four of us (including myself) participated in a one-month Apathy Overcoming Challenge (from January 27th to February 28th, 2023).

(You can find various challenge topics if you search for 'Apathy Overcoming Challenge' on the search engine. :) )

We used an open chat room and Notion to manage the challenge, and only three features of Notion were utilized: calendar function for challenge registration, achievement check, and photo upload.

Each Sunday, we set weekly challenges. We would post pictures and leave comments as proof of completion.

(Looking back, it brings a smile to my face...🍊)

Now, after joining the IT alliance club, SOPt, I've been pondering what kind of IT service would be meaningful to create. I've decided to validate the business potential of the mental care-based challenge service I developed last January.

That's all for today!!

I'll post part 2 soon, so please look forward to it :)

(The more comments you leave, the faster I'll return – it's a secret 😉)